In the past, ski bindings have been designed so that froces acting upward, away from the ski, are transferred first to the base plate of the binding, and from there to the ski itself. The imposition of such forces, which can be of considerable magnitude, has necessitated the design of base plates with sufficient thickness to successfully resist these forces without failing. While this poses no problem from a design standpoint, large base plates undesirably increase the weight of the ski bindings, the increased weight resulting in grater skiing fatigue and reduced performance.